Author/compiler: Ihara Saikaku 井原西鶴, 1642-93. Second preface is written and signed by Hōjō Dansui 北條團水, who is (dubiously) credited by KS with compilation (編) or editing of the work. Illustrator: Not named, but the style resembles that of MAKIESHI Genzaburō 蒔繪師源三郎. Imprint: Kyōto, Tanaka Shōbē; Ōsaka, Yao Jinzaemon, Genroku 8, 1695. Kanki on last page of maki 5 reads: 元禄八乙亥暦孟春吉日 ／ 書林 ／ 京洛寺町五條上ル町 ／ 田中庄兵衞 ／ 浪花堺筋備後町 ／ 八尾甚左衞門. Description: 5 kan, formerly in 5 satsu, now rebound in 1 vol. western style. Folio numbering erratic, as follows: (1) ff. 1-2 (publisher's preface), 3 (preface by Hōjō Dansui), 4 (mokuroku), 5-9, 10 / 15 (十ノ十五), 16-19; (2) ff. 1 (目録), 2-9, 10 / 15 (十ノ十五), 16-17, 22-23 (本文); (3) ff. 1 (目録), 2-9, 10 / 15 (十ノ十五), 16-20; (4) ff. 1 (目録), 2-9, 10 / 15 (十ノ十五), 16-21; (5) ff. 1 (目録), 2-9, 10 / 15 (十ノ十五), 16-20. 25.5 x 17.7 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 18.3-18.5 x 14.2 cm. Single-line borders all round (including illustrations). Fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text with printed furigana and dakuten. 11 lines to page, 20-24 characters to line. Original brown front cover of maki 1 only, with original printed title slip on left. Gedai, crudely touched up with black ink, reads: 西鶴俗つれ [踊字 = づれ] 繪入一. No naidai at head of main text. Title taken from head of first preface and mokuroku. Hashiragaki: Zoku tsurezure 俗つれ [踊字 = つれ] + maki no. + folio no. In a western style half-leather binding. Edition: First and only edition of this work, apart from an undated reprint from the same blocks by Aoyama Ihē 青山爲兵衞 of Kyōto. Contents: An ukiyo-zōshi work (not a novel) on moral themes, consisting chiefly of anecdotes warning against the effect of drink and sexual excess. Like Saikaku okimiyage and Saikaku oridome, this work is a miscellany of short pieces drawn from Saikaku's unpublished writings. It has features in common with Kenkō's Tsurezuregusa 徒然草, as reflected in the title.
Saikaku zoku tsurezure 西鶴俗つれづれ
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or.75.g.16
- Dates of Creation
- 1695
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 1 volume Condition: Fair. Damage, in places severe, to fol. 19 of maki 1; ff. 1-16 and 23 of maki 2; ff. 5-20 of maki 3; ff. 10 / 15-19 of maki 5. Ff. 20-22 of maki 1 and ff. 18-21 of maki 2 missing. Some soiled pages and water stains. Impression: An early impression, sharp and clear. Illustrations: Single- and double-page sumizuri illustrations on: ff. 1b-2a, 6b-7a, 9b-10 / 15a, 17b-18a of maki 1; ff. 3b, 4a, 9b-10 / 15a of maki 2; ff. 3b-4a, 6b-7a, 9b-10 / 15a, 18b-19a of maki 3; ff. 3b-4a, 9b-10 / 15a, 17a, 19a of maki 4; ff. 3b-4a, 9b-10 / 15a, 18b-19a of maki 5. The woodcut in maki 1, fol. 2a, is an imaginative representation of the author Saikaku in retirement. Seals of ownership: Oblong red seal of Sir Ernest Satow, 英國薩道藏書, and oval red seal, Taikadō 待賈堂 (seal of Iwamoto Kattōshi 岩本活東子, also known as Darumaya Goichi 達摩屋五一), on first page of maki 1. Also two unidentified black seals, probably of kashihon'ya, on the same page. Another seal of Darumaya Goichi (red, in an ornamental frame), 江戸四日市古今珍書僧達摩屋五一, on last page of maki 5. Manuscript notes: Signature, Wakabayashi Kisaku 若林喜作, in a mid-Edo hand, on mikaeshi. Signature, Nakamura Kanzaburō 中村勘三郎, and 14 other names, on last page following kanki and on additional unprinted sheet facing it, all written shortly after date of publication. Sundry notes, unconnected with text, written in upper margins at right angles to printed text.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired from William Anderson, 21 March 1894.
Other Finding Aids
Kenneth Gardner, Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese books in the British Library printed before 1700 (London and Tenri, 1993). C. Japanese works 和書 5. Literature - fiction 国文-小説 g. Ukiyo-zōshi 浮世草子
Bibliography
Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 3, p. 7; Saikaku 西鶴, p. 151, pl. 407-11; Iwasaki bunko kichōbon sōkan, kinsei hen 岩崎文庫貴重本叢刊・近世編, vol. 3, pp. 119-200 (facsimile reproduction); Teihon Saikaku zenshū 定本西鶴全集, vol. 8.